30 Years Ago Today...

Happy birthday to Jon. Happy birthday to Jon. Happy birthday to Jooooooon.... Happy birthday to Jon!

We are going to Beatrice & Woodsley for dinner before meeting some friends somewhere after that.

I made my hubby biscuits and gravy for breakfast, and considering I hate gravy and don't eat it, Jon said it turned out really good! That made me happy. I'm glad I can cook his favorite breakfast from time-to-time and do it justice.

So...happy birthday, Jon!

Shoes

We finally found shoes that fit over Evelyn's adorably chunky feet! Now she can walk around on gravely public areas with ease. And they are soooo cute!

Swim, baby, swim

What a weekend! On Saturday, Jon was working so Evelyn and I had a girls' day at the Children's Museum. It was our first time there but I think we will go back. They had a section dedicated for small children, under age 4, with different areas for different abilities. We stayed in the "pre-walker" area and had a good time.

Evie was able to crawl around, play with new toys, go up padded stairs, crawl across a wavy floor, and interact with other children. It's funny to me that Evelyn gets shy around other people. At home she is so loud and gregarious; but in public she gets a little shy and very quiet. It's like two different children!

It was nice to get out of the house for a bit because this baby is driving me crazy! She is teething something fierce and is just cranky all the time. I feel so bad for her because there is nothing she can do to feel better, and there is very little I can do to help her.

One thing she loves is to be outside! Alas, it is hot, and sunny, but we thought, "hey, maybe Evelyn would like a little wading pool!"

She does not. Maybe if the water was a little warmer, but the ice-cold hose water was not her cup of tea. Jon, however, was a big fan. Especially when I sprayed his head with the hose! Oh, wicked burn!

We spent most of our Sunday evening laying around on a blanket in the shade, playing with the dogs.

It was a great evening.

Bruises and Sharks

Jon took Evelyn to the aquarium yesterday. He said they had a really good time, looking at all the fish tanks, watching the people, walking around. Evelyn especially loved the shark tank! She's a wild woman!

On a side note, do you see how she is sitting in her stroller up there? Leaning out, pushing forward, not reclining or relaxing at all? Yes, that is how she rides in her stroller AT ALL TIMES. Like she is just waiting for the right moment to make her break. She also bee-lines it straight for any open door. She may be a little escape artist when she gets more mobile...

And then here is a nice picture of Evelyn's first slightly black eye. She had a rough couple of days in the face-smashing department. First she head-butted the hardwood floor. No reason. She didn't fall, just dropped her head right onto the floor. Got a nice big bruise from that one. Then the next day our 7-year-old neighbor came over to play Wii and accidentally hit Evelyn in the face with the Wiimote. It was my fault, really, not paying enough attention, and it was bad. So she got another bruise on her nose and under her eye. Poor girl.

I am happy to report that Evelyn is sleeping much better again. Her crib is still a playpen, but she plays for a few minutes and then lays back down and goes to sleep. The teething is our big issue now, bu children's motrin seems to help take the edge off her pain. She also has taken to sitting on her bum and spinning in a circle. It is really funny to watch. She especially loves to do it when chewing on something awesome, like my blackberry or the TV remote.

In non-Evelyn news, Jon's shop endeavors continue to stall as the construction has stopped for TWO WEEKS due to permitting issues. I am dying over here. We have got to get moving again! Forward momentum! Things are looking up, though, since Jon is meeting with the architect, the contractor and the landlord today to finalize plans (again). If all goes well (which hasn't been the norm lately), they will have their permit tomorrow and construction will resume. The worst part is that they were only 1.5 or 2 weeks away from finishing in the first place. They were ahead of schedule. But now everything is behind schedule and Jon and I are both going batty.

Of course, finishing construction is only the first step to opening up. Jon has his zoning permit, but he needs to get a sign off by the health department, an electrical and plumbing inspection guy, and something else. Then he can get his business license and open up. It's just so tenuous. If ONE thing goes wrong, this whole thing could blow up in our faces, and that is terrifying. Ack! Let's get moving!

A few pictures from Sacramento

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Sacramento. Sadly, a bunch of them didn't turn out. But the ones that did are cute!

Evie with her grandpa Craig.


At the Jelly Belly factory. I don't know if I have osted about Evelyn's fear of women wearing hats indoors. She does NOT like it. She's not too keen on men wearing hats indoors, but it doesn't freak her out as much as women. So we went to the Jelly Belly factory and everyone has to wear a hairnet/hat thing for the tour. Evelyn was not a fan.

Riding on the airplane like a big girl. Getting Evelyn her own seat was a good idea. It was a LOT easier than carrying her on our laps. She slept nearly the whole way!

Who is adorable?

I am!

Too hot to breathe

I have been working on a knitting project for, oh, about a month now. I have probably 45 rows done. That is slooooow for anyone wondering. It is a delightfully complicated pattern and a beautiful yarn and I am very motivated to finish it by a certain date, but life has intervened. No, no, WEATHER has intervened. It is blazing hot out here. Blazing. And we don't have air conditioning in our house with the 50-year-old windows. Last night before bed it was 89 degrees INSIDE. That is after we had kept the house shuttered all day, blinds closed, windows sealed. It was so hot that a package of refrigerator biscuits that I accidently left on the table without putting away exploded after about 30 minutes as they started to rise! And when it is this hot, you just don't want to knit. Your hands get sweaty and the needles slip around and you end up dropping stitches and ruining everything.

I will perservere in the hopes that I finish this excellent project by the recipient's birthday, but I can make no promises. Blasted heat wave!

If anyone is living in a place with nice, cool weather, please send it my way. And while you are at it, a nanny and an extra few hours in the day would be nice, too. And cookies. Lots of cookies.

Joyful living

I wonder if I didn't have to work in an office, 9-5, at a desk, pushing paper, would be as tired as I am now? If I was a was a stay-at-home mom, a housewife, a homemaker, would I be so exhausted? Would I be missing out on this so-so-cute-and-fun time in Evelyn's young life because I just want to sit on the couch? Something tells me yes. If I stayed at home instead of going to an office I would be working just as hard (no, I'd be working harder), and although I would be with Evelyn more hours of the day I have to believe I'd be just as tired. Probably overwhelmed and brain-smooshed, too.

Evelyn is such a delight right now. She smiles as big as her mouth will go everytime you walk into a room. She is easily entertained, happy just to stand with her face against the screen door, talking to the outside world. She pulls the DVDs off the bookshelf with such excitement that it's hard to believe anything else could be as great. She eats well and sleeps (mostly) well. She talks A LOT. She laughs EVEN MORE. And I feel like I am missing it because I am tired.



I don't think I'm living joyfully. I'm happy, I'm present, but I'm not joyful. That is a adjective hard to find in the day-to-day life. Living joyfully, especially while tired, is not a skill I have learned. Counting every little blessing--because I have so very very many--is not something I have been doing much of lately.

Look at that face! What isn't joyful about that face? Nothing. So I think I'm going to try to re-set my "normal." This level of tiredness and lethargy I feel right now? This is normal. The status quo. It's not going to get any less. I mean, seriously, I have a baby here. (And really, if I'm honest with myself, did I have that much energy before Evelyn was born? No. I'm kind of lazy and always have been.) But if I just accept that, accept that I am not going to be bursting with energy when I come home from the office, that my desire to lay on the couch is not going to go away no matter how much I do it, maybe I can get over that and live in the moment I have. Sit with my daughter in the front yard, watch her explore the world, and bask in the joy that that moment can bring.